Leap Year
by kopite10
Summary: Anna drags Elsa on a much needed couple's holiday at the famed Ashford Castle in western Ireland and little does Anna know what Elsa has planned… Modern AU. Elsanna one-shot


**This little ficlet decided to come to me while I was driving so enjoy the fluff! :)**

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><p>In the pleasantly warm, autumn air, the grounds were littered in a sea of red, orange and gold leaves, only adding to the illuminating halo the castle seemed to be surrounded by. It was indeed a beautiful and rarely bespoke sight according to the opinion offered by the castle manager for Elsa and Anna. He was a particularly lively and chatty person, always gracious and took everything in his stride. Elsa was glad for his disposition as it meant that he acquiesced Elsa's various requests for her and Anna's special evening, to make sure that everything went smoothly according to plan in set up for the grand finale.<p>

The look on Anna's face as she took in the gardens and majestic exterior of Ashford Castle was all worth it. She gasped when the fountain situated in the middle of the grounds suddenly switched on, the water cascaded into the air with careful precision. The beauty of the Irish sunset was enhanced by the reflection of the water and the atmosphere was simply sublime.

"Oh, Mr Oaken! This is sooo beautiful!" Anna gushed.

Mr Oaken gave a small but contented sigh as he leaned against the door frame, facing Elsa and Anna. "This castle never fails to surprise me with her splendour. I'm always finding some new thing or perspective about her every day and I love it. I look forward to it every morning when I wake up!"

"Awww. A man in love with a castle." The manager's adoration was too much for Anna.

"It's very obvious that you love this place with all your heart and soul." Elsa smiled warmly at the large man.

She looked over at her feisty redhead who was now skipping down the steps onto the stone walkway. When Anna reached the bottom, she turned around and called out, "Hey Elsa, wanna race me to the riverbank?"

"We're in heels, Anna." Elsa deadpanned.

"So? Heels never stopped you that time at Halloween, when Olaf, Kristoff and I chased you around the house -stairs included- with fake spiders and grape eyeballs."

A snicker burst forth from Mr Oaken as Elsa rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling upwards at the recollection of that memory.

"My authority as the Queen was being undermined at that moment so it was necessary! You tell me what I ought to do when I'm being chased by a reindeer, a snowman and a Princess who were covered in green and orange goo!"

Anna's nose scrunched up in the most adorable way as she stuck out her tongue at the blonde which Elsa playfully returned. "I'll be down in a second, Anna."

She turned to Mr Oaken and shook his hand, "Thank you, Mr Oaken, for organising everything. I really appreciate it and I'm sure Anna will… afterwards."

"It's all my pleasure, Miss Andersen." His face lit up with a huge smile. "She certainly has a lively and spirited temperance…" He trailed off as his hands flew around in a demonstration of Anna's personality.

Elsa laughed and nodded as she looked down fondly at her girlfriend.

"In that case, Miss Andersen, she's a keeper. I wish you all the best of the Irish luck this evening and err… enjoy yourselves." He said with a sly wink.

"Thank you, for everything" The sincerity evident in Elsa's smooth voice and the manager gave a slight bow of his head and retreated inside the castle door.

Elsa turned on her heel and bounded down the steps to where Anna was impatiently waiting.

"Someone's in a happy mood. You don't normally bound down steps very often…" Anna observed with a curious tone.

A goofy grin began to spread over Elsa's face as she reached down and took one of Anna's hands and lightly brushed her lips over the faintly freckled knuckles, "You are ever the reason, Anna." Elsa murmured against the back of her hand.

Swooning under this simple, timeless gesture, Anna pulled Elsa towards her and swathed her into a giant bear hug, caressing the platinum blonde braid that trailed down Elsa's back. She whispered in her ear, "And you are my reason, Elsa. I love you, forever and always."

Elsa felt her eyes flutter as she listened to Anna's words like they were a drug she depended upon. She turned her head and captured the redhead's lips with her own in a desperate and heated kiss; hands slithering up to either side of Anna's body before coming to a stop at her face. Their heads tilted as the kiss deepened with every stroke of their lips and swirl of their tongues. When Anna sucked onto Elsa's bottom lip provocatively and dragged back with her teeth, she pulled back with a sensual gasp.

"Anna… I won't be able to show you the rest of the grounds if you continue kissing me like that." Her hot breath released into Anna's mouth, relishing the moment.

Anna only smirked and crashed her lips back to the blonde's and held her in that position for who knows how long before releasing her. Her eyes fluttering open, Elsa just stood there with a dazed expression as she comprehended their surroundings. Anna couldn't help but chuckle as she reached to thread her fingers with Elsa's and gently led her away along the walkway towards the river.

As they walked along the river in comfortable silence, Elsa and Anna exchanged flirty glances and silly faces to see who would crack first. They never needed to fill the space with conversation like they did at dinner and there will be plenty of time in the future for that. For now, they just simply cherished each other's company.

The colours of the shimmering reflection of the sunset only enhanced the vibrancy of Anna's copper locks and Elsa found herself shamelessly staring at it, wanting nothing more to run her own hands through it and...

"Can we extend this holiday? I just don't want it to end!" Anna suddenly whined, her bottom lip jutted out into a petulant pout.

"You know I'd love nothing more than to agree to that. But you do have your new job waiting for you back home." Elsa smiled as she gently caressed Anna's pout with her fingers.

"I'm so excited… Nervous too. Don't get me wrong, but this is a big deal! For me anyway and it's like a whole new world opening up to me." The words sprouted forth in typical Anna fashion.

Back in Oslo, Anna accepted a highly coveted position as a journalist at the _Aftenposten_ newspaper company. She had quit her old job at a women's magazine along with several other women thanks to the unwanted, sexual advances of their slimy, auburn-haired editor. No sooner after they quit, the women collectively organised a sexual harassment lawsuit against Hans Westergaard which in the end was successful and each woman received compensation for their ordeal. Of course, Elsa and Anna were putting some of that money to good use for this trip.

Elsa brought up their interlaced hands between their chests, "Anna, you are one of the most talented people I know. You are somehow able to string together words into a sentence in such a powerful way that people fall under your spell."

Momentarily blushing a deep red at Elsa's compliments, Anna recovered enough to retort with sass, "You're not doing such a bad job yourself right now." She arched a wicked eyebrow at her for emphasis.

Elsa narrowed her eyes impishly at her redhead. She looked around and spotted the small stone wall that lined the side of the walkway and walked over to it with Anna in tow. She sat down and let her sit on her lap.

"While we're on the subject of jobs, I've thought more about which area of law I would like to go into." Elsa started.

"So, you've come to a decision then?" inquired Anna.

"More or less. I'm leaning heavily towards human rights law over criminal defence law at the moment. It just seems to make more perfect sense for myself, I guess."

"For you, Elsa, you would be a boss at whatever you decide to do. Though, I am a little surprised you are leaning towards human rights law. I've seen how _good_ you are in the courtroom and I thought you loved the thrill of a criminal trial?"

"I do! There's no question about it but I hear all these stories about how jaded some barristers become later in their careers because they've defended all kinds of people…"

She looked up at Anna with a curious expression, as if she was looking into the future.

"I don't want to become like that, Anna. I want to stick to who I am, my morals mean a lot to me and fighting for an individual's human rights seems more like what I'd want to do." She gives a casual shrug of her shoulders.

This was the person Anna fell in love with. The Elsa who cares ferociously about everyone's wellbeing that she almost neglects her own at times that Anna has to remind her that she is too, a human being.

"Human rights law definitely sounds like the way to go but at the end of the day, Elsa. Whatever you decide to do, I'll support your decision."

She tightened her arms around Elsa's shoulders while Elsa's arms tightened in response around Anna's waist.

"Oh my God! You know, this will be absolutely perfect for my first newspaper article!" Anna almost shrieked in excitement that Elsa reeled back in surprise.

"What? Are you talking about your tertiary education piece?"

"YES! I know it's lame to start off with but my manager told me shortly before we left home that he wanted me to start in some of the smaller newspaper sections first to get used to the way things work cause it's entirely different than what I did before. So he's allocated me in the educational section first and I had some ideas floating around in my head about how some university students are undecided in their career choices and some end up unhappy because they've made the wrong one so their degree ends up being longer than expected."

Anna did not take a single breath in her mini-speech and Elsa had to laugh a little and teased, "So that means you'll get to interview me on how and why I've made my career choices?"

Anna gasped, "I would totally do that!"

Elsa gave a light kiss to Anna's lips and smiled, "I'll agree to it, then. Knowing you, you'll make that article piece an inspirational one and tell the students reading it not to give up hope… something along those lines."

That was the best thing about Anna that drew Elsa to her like a moth to a flame. She was ever the eternal optimist and gifted with such an omniscient quality to her perspective on life that that made her such a great writer on all issues.

Between Elsa's seemingly logical view on life and Anna's own steadfast but occasionally flexible worldview, the pair suited each other like a couplet. Each line offered their own visions but when put together, the two lines would create something far more powerful and inspirational than on their own. Their relationship was truly poetic.

Elsa motioned for Anna to stand up and she took her hand and led her to the pier entrance where she spun the redhead around and caught her by the waist. Anna giggled like a silly schoolgirl and the pair started a slow dance as they held each other close, unwilling to let go. Their foreheads soon made contact and their eyes never left each other.

It was not known how long Elsa and Anna stayed in this position as they swayed to the beat of their love, nor did they care to find out. All that mattered was the presence of the other person, the way they held and supported each other in their arms. Respect and understanding was the foundation of their unshakeable bond which only added fuel to the fire that was their relationship.

"Excuse me."

The two women did not budge from their embrace, nor dare tear their gaze away to find out the source of the interrupting voice.

"You'll hate me for intruding but love me for what I'm about to offer you."

Curiosity piqued the blonde and the redhead and they both reluctantly turned to find the source of the voice. Their eyes fell upon a burly, 6'2 man with brown hair and brown eyes, the only feature of note being a rather large digital camera sitting snugly in front of his jumper which had a picture of a large reindeer on it.

Points for the reindeer sweater. It was adorkably cute.

"Sorry, for interrupting but I'm a professional photographer and well, I couldn't help but notice how into each other you girls were. With the scenery like this, I have to say you two would make quite the postcard." He grinned.

Elsa and Anna did not quite know how to react so they just looked back at each other and blushed, arms still around their waists.

"Oh, sorry, how terribly rude of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Sven and you two would be…?"

The redhead pulled herself away first and shook Sven's offered hand, "Oh, I'm Anna. And this is my girlfriend, Elsa." She gestured to the blonde.

"Pleased to meet you, Sven." It was Elsa's turn to shake Sven's hand.

"Likewise. I have to say I'm surprised you say girlfriend cos you look more like a married couple against that beautiful sunset. Not that I'm a prude… I just have an eye for things cos y'know…" He tapped his camera as a means of explanation.

Elsa immediately flushed a deep red at the mention of 'married couple' and turned away, burying her face in Anna's equally red hair as Anna stammered, "Well… uh… I'm sure... sometime in the future- we will be…" She gulped as she couldn't help but hold back a big smile that spread across her freckled features.

Shifting her head slightly to kiss Anna's temple, Elsa gazed into Anna's teal eyes and said only two words, "One day."

Anna beamed at Elsa and reached up for a quick peck on her cheek as the two were lost in each other once again.

Sven gave a hearty chortle to himself as he let the pair have their moment before clearing his throat.

"As much as I'd love to leave you two alone, I have an offer."

Anna was the first to turn away reluctantly and asked, "Please, do tell us."

"Well, I did say you two will make quite a postcard so I was wondering if I could take some photographs of you against the backdrop of the river and sunset and give you the hi-res image files, free of charge."

Elsa quirked an eyebrow towards Sven, "Free of charge? Are you sure?"

"Yes, for me, photographing you two together is payment enough." He complimented.

That alone was enough to draw another blush from Elsa and Anna and they both readily agreed to Sven's generous offer.

"Now you two can decide where you'd like to be in the photo with whatever backdrop but ultimately I do also have to work with the light exposure so I can offer some tips."

As the trio worked together to figure out a range of suitable positions, short and long range shots working with either the river or Ashford Castle as the background, they eventually found what worked best and set about taking the pictures.

Sven decided that Elsa and Anna were the perfect model couple as they posed happily in millions of ways whether it be a loving embrace, a kiss, their cheeks smooshed up against each other as they gripped each other's waists, a hand in hand shot and even at one point, Elsa and Anna took turns in giving each other a piggyback ride which was quite a feat in itself considering their choice of dresses and high heels.

Once the shoot was finished and Sven reckoned he took about 50 shots, he quickly showed Elsa and Anna the images on his digital camera and they both 'ooohed' and 'aaahed' over themselves.

They unanimously decided that one particular photo was their ultimate favourite which was a long range shot of them standing with their arms draped around each other and foreheads together on the very end of the pier overlooking the river so that they were silhouettes against the Irish sunset.

The photo was perfection.

As Anna went off to one side with Sven's camera still gushing over the beauty of the photos, Elsa quietly conversed with Sven as they exchanged personal details for the delivery of the photos. Once finished, Sven gave a hearty goodbye to the two women and made his leave.

Finally they were alone.

Anna gave a little chuckle, "Y'know Elsa, it's funny how that guy thought we were married." She glanced up at Elsa's face, hope swimming around in her eyes.

Elsa just simply looked back at her, with the most adoring expression etched on her face and the slightest hint of a smile tugging at her mouth.

"Well… it's funny you should say that, Anna." She took Anna by her hands and took a few steps towards the entrance of the pier.

"What…?"

"Shhh…" Elsa leant in for a quick peck on those delicious lips.

Anna's eyes widened as she watched Elsa bend down into a kneeling position, taking Anna's left hand into her own hands. Her jaw slightly slackened as comprehension washed over her and she forced herself to keep quiet as to not ruin the romantic moment.

"What I am about to say to you next is not a question. It's an order. One that you cannot refuse." Elsa began as Anna's breathing hitched and her heartbeat started thumping erratically.

Elsa reached into her bra where the tiny box was concealed somewhat uncomfortably for the better part of the day and pulled it out with shaking hands. She somehow managed to open it with one hand and held it up, revealing a beautifully designed Claddagh ring.

Two hands representing friendship cradling a heart representing love adorned with a crown representing loyalty made up the Claddagh ring. In the place of the heart was a heart-shaped stone the colour of the lush Irish fields. Emerald green. There were two diamonds embedded in the crown and 6 additional smaller diamonds embedded in the cuffs of the two hands holding the heart and crown, 3 on each hand respectively.

Elsa tightened her grip on Anna's left hand momentarily as she traced circles onto the back of it with her thumb.

"This is a demand… for your hand in marriage. I love you, I will always love you. So marry me, Anna Maria Valstad. I want to be yours. I want you to be mine. For now and for the rest of our lives." Elsa's delivery was quietly confident despite the thumping against her ribcage and she meant every single word. The words were phrased in such a way that left Anna no choice but to accept the proposal.

The three letter word that was on the tip of Anna's tongue could not be released as she felt a wave of elation constrict her throat. She could feel the emotion spread to every fibre of her being and as a consequence, it threatened to spill out in the form of happy tears. She was going to scream out instead of confidently accepting Elsa's proposal.

"Anna?" asked Elsa precariously, her thumb was again tracing circles on the back of her hand. She didn't know what to do. Here was Anna, looking like she was on the brink of tears and she was still kneeling down uselessly, holding onto Anna's hand for dear life.

Realising that Elsa was still waiting for an answer…

"Yes!" Anna managed to squeak out with a Cheshire cat grin. Unsatisfied with the manner of her acceptance, she clamped a hand over her mouth and cleared her throat. Elsa saw the grin and heard the acceptance but restrained herself as she could see that Anna was not yet done with herself. She was close to crying so in an effort to distract herself, Anna placed her hands gently on either side of Elsa's face and bent down to give her a soft kiss. After holding Elsa for a few moments, she pulled back ever so slightly to see the joy returning to Elsa's sapphire orbs.

"Yes, Elsa. I do." Anna again said, this time in an unwavering, confident voice.

At long last, Elsa laughed with sheer joy as she jumped up and swept Anna in her arms. She buried her face in Anna's copper locks while Anna was laughing into the crook of Elsa's neck. Their bodies shook with happiness and laughter. Elsa then suddenly lifted Anna up into the air and she squealed as she felt her feet leave the ground, heels be damned as they flew off in that motion.

She finally came back down to the security of Elsa's arms and they both sank into the love-crazy sights in their eyes. Elsa wore the biggest, face-splitting grin as she peppered Anna's face with kisses and Anna would start laughing all over again. She let up her amorous assault and let out a delighted sigh just as Anna started stroking her face.

"You… you… Oh, Elsa!" Anna sighed; words for once were failing her.

It was Elsa's turn to giggle, "Yes? Min kjæreste…"

Anna stuttered out, "You… proposed to me! Oh! The ring!" She glanced down to see the box in Elsa's hands and looked back up at Elsa.

Finally gaining some semblance of control over her mental and physical functions, Elsa took the ring and brought up Anna's left hand. Their eyes met just as Elsa slid the ring passed the first knuckle and once the ring was secured, she lifted her hand up and kissed every knuckle with the ring being the last one she kissed.

"I love you, Anna."

"I love you too, Elsa. More than you know."

Still locked in Elsa's embrace, she held up her ring finger to properly see the ring for the first time. It was absolutely stunning and the emerald stone glittered beautifully in the light amongst its smaller diamond counterparts.

"You like it?" Elsa asked tentatively.

"Like it? I love it!" Anna almost blubbered up again and she leant into Elsa for support which she graciously accepted.

She whispered against Anna's red hair, "I want to share my life with you, Anna. Everything I have and done is yours and I want to create a new beginning for the both of us."

"You are my everything, Elsa and I can't imagine it being any other way. So you're stuck with me for the rest of our lives." She smirked and a silly grin soon made its way back to Elsa's face.

"Okay, I feel like I'm gonna die from standing up so can we please sit down and cuddle?" implored Elsa.

She plopped herself down on the grass nearby and spread out her legs and opened her arms out in a manner of invitation. A thought struck Anna, so she knelt down facing Elsa and wrapped her arms around her neck. She leaned in to plant a kiss on Elsa's forehead and then trailed her lips downwards, making the slightest contact before playfully nipping at the tip of her nose.

A satisfied 'hmm' was Anna's reward but the blonde's satisfaction was short-lived as Anna wrapped her arms around Elsa's waist and exuberantly tackled her to one side, rolling twice on a small descent.

"Anna!"

Once they rolled to a stop in a messy heap of upturned skirts, their respective hairs in hilarious disarray, Anna swung a leg over Elsa's hips and straddled her, effectively trapping the blonde. Glancing up to find mischief swirling around in the depths of Anna's teal orbs, Elsa shot up and immediately grabbed the redhead's derriere, pulling her closer and locked her azure eyes with Anna's.

Anna started giggling at the gaze laced with murderous intent, bringing up her right index finger and placed it over Elsa's lips as if to placate her. Quirking an eyebrow, Elsa quickly opened her mouth and lightly nipped at Anna's finger which drew a gasp from the redhead. She brought a hand up and wrapped it around the nape of Anna's neck; bringing her in closer and whispered against her lips.

"I'm so gonna get you back for this little stunt." The words rolled off Elsa's tongue like lethal, velvety silk.

Anna internally shuddered at her words and cupped her own hand under Elsa's jaw intending to retaliate in similar fashion.

"I hope you do. I am most certainly looking forward to it." Anna unconsciously bit her lower lip that drove the blonde crazy.

Driven by the same force that drove their love, Elsa and Anna pulled each other even closer simultaneously and their lips met in a fiery and intense dance. Becoming more daring, Anna slipped her tongue into Elsa's mouth. Elsa moaned as she granted entrance and met Anna's tongue with her own and they both sought for control of the kiss, air soon becoming scarce.

Elsa was the first to break away, breathing heavily as she trailed her nose against the underside of Anna's jaw and softly kissed her pulse point. Not wanting things to end here, Anna nuzzled into the crook of Elsa's neck and slowly shifted to one side as she laid her head onto Elsa's chest.

The heat and passion had thawed into something more loving and tender. Time felt infinite to Elsa and Anna at this point, right now in their lives and both were merely content to bask in this moment forever.

After a while, Elsa wanted to get into a more comfortable position, so she sat upright and spread her legs so that Anna could snuggle up to her spoon-style. The blonde wrapped her arms possessively around the redhead as Anna rested her hands on Elsa's thighs. Eventually, they snuggled into the comfort of each other's warmth as they watched the last of the sunset slowly drift down over the horizon.

"Elsa?" The reluctance to break the heartfelt silence was heard in Anna's voice.

"Hmm?"

"What day is it today?"

"Uhhh, its February 29th."

"Oh…"

Elsa moved her head to look down at Anna with a questioning look.

"It's tradition for women to propose on the leap year." Anna started off.

"I've been meaning to pop the question for a while now and I thought why not do it on the leap year."

"So, you've been planning this since when?"

"Probably close to 6 months now…"

Anna's jaw dropped, "How on earth did you manage to find the patience to wait for 6 months?!"

"Oh you know, it was a matter of waiting for the right moment. Plus, I picked out the ring quite early because I knew exactly what I wanted as soon as I saw this design." Elsa twirled with the ring in question on Anna's finger, "Everything about it is perfect right down to the meaning behind the symbols. Friendship, loyalty and love. Those are the three things every relationship or marriage really needs to thrive."

"I love it, Elsa. But when we get back home, I'm gonna fix the problem of you being ring-less. I know exactly what to get you!"

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"Exactly the same as mine except the heart stone will be a sapphire, cause you love blue and it'll match your eyes." Elsa broke into a ridiculously huge smile and Anna delighted in it as they drank in the sight of each other's happiness.

"My head is in the clouds, Elsa. You are too romantic, it breaks my heart sometimes."

"Hmm, and do you know who puts your heart back together every time that happens?"

Elsa drew closer to Anna's face, more specifically her lips and grinned with satisfaction when she heard Anna's breath hitch in anticipation.

"Me." declared Elsa.

Azure eyes danced with teal eyes.

"I have the rest of my life to break your heart in various silly ways, Anna."

Elsa tilted her head to meet her rosy lips when Anna pulled back slightly and she brought up her hand to tenderly cradle Elsa's jawline.

"And I have the rest of my life to make sure you won't get away with it each time." The sly tone underlined with tender love.

Elsa and Anna didn't hold anything back as their lips met once again with conviction.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed reading all that fluff :D<strong>

**The photographer sequence was inspired by my cousins's proposal story in which after they she was proposed to, she and her fiance were approached by a professional photographer and well, the rest is history.**

**If you want to have an idea of what an engagement Claddagh ring looks like, just go into my bio and I've put up a link there for reference :)**

**I haven't abandoned my other fic _You'll Never Walk Alone,_ I've been a little busy since uni started and I've been kinda lacking the motivation also but I managed to somehow crank out this one-shot so hopefully I can get back to the groove and flesh out the remaining 3 chapters for that one.**

**-Kop**


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